Brexit: Tusk says 'pick-and-mix' approach for UK is out of the question – Politics live

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and the publication of the EU’s draft Brexit guidelines for the UK-EU trade talksTusk’s press conference – Summary 1.54pm GMT Here is some comment on the EU guidelines and the Tusk press conference from journalists and commentators. (Where there’s a thread, I have just posed the first tweet, but if you click on it, the full thread should appear.)From Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European ReformEuropean Council guidelines on FTA coherent & generally sensible, given UK red lines. Perhaps broader on services than some expected – professional qualifics, ability to move staff around, right of establish’t – but 0 on FS. 1 battle will be over role of ECJ in policing. @CER_EUThis is most important political statement in EU draft guidelines for trade talks with Brexit UK. It says only deal available – a basic free trade deal – will have “negative economic consequences” for UK and EU – and that is price worth paying. @theresa_may seriously rebuffed pic.twitter.com/a1JPHg0C4UThanks to Sam – here’s the full text of the draft EU27 guidelines for the future EU/UK relationship. Some thoughts. 1/ https://t.co/dVNl6FGvG8Some thoughts on the entirely unsurprising EU guidelines. pic.twitter.com/DuykI9VY5CTusk @eucopresident has that “this is going to hurt you, more than it hurts me” voice…administered prior to a good thrashing. Now warns against a “pick n mix” approach – says this is “out of the question” and “not in our [EU27] interest”. 1.38pm GMT Here are the main points from Donald Tusk’s press conference.His words are clear but, on their own, they do not do full justice to the message he conveyed. His tone was very striking; it was lugubrious, almost funereal. Remember Theresa May’s “Brexit means Brexit, and we’re going to make a success of it”? Tusk’s take could not have been more different.Therefore it should come as no surprise that the only remaining possible model is a free trade agreement. I hope that it will be ambitious and advanced and that we will do our best, as we did with other partners, such as Canada recently. But, anyway, it will only be a trade agreement.For example, the EU cannot agree to grant the UK the rights of Norway with the obligations of Canada. No member state is free to pick only those sectors of the single market it likes, nor to accept the role of the ECJ only when it suits their interests.By the same token, a pick-and-mix approach for a non-member state is out of the question. One thing must be absolutely clear, and I’m not sure that we are on the same position here; there is no possibility to have some sort of exclusive single market for some part of our economies. And I hope that during our negotiations and debate among 27 EU leaders that we will make this position more clear for our partners in London.This positive approach doesn’t change the simple fact that because of Brexit we will be drifting apart. In fact, this will be the first FTA [free trade agreement] in history that loosens economic ties instead of strengthening them. Our agreement will not make trade between the UK and the EU frictionless or smoother. It will make it more complicated … for all us. This is the essence of Brexit.To sum up, we will enter the negotiations of the future relations with the UK with an open, positive and constructive mind, but also with realism.My proposal shows that we don’t want to build a wall between the EU and Britain. On the contrary, the UK will be our closest neighbour and we want to remain friends and partners also after Brexit, partners that are as close as possible, just like we have said from the very first day after the referendum.I am determined to avoid that particularly absurd consequence of Brexit, that is the disruption of flights between the UK and the EU. To do so, we must start discussions on this issue as soon as possible. Continue reading…
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